When we hear a sound with regular vibration (such as that of a vowel), the pitch sensation that we perceive corresponds closely to the frequency of vibration of the vocal cords: the higher the frequency of the vibration of the vocal cords, the higher the pitch we perceive; the lower the frequency, the lower the pitch (see Gussenhoven 2004:1-11, Devine and Stephens 1994:157-194). The number of cycles per second (or any other measure of time) is known as the fundamen…